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His words, muffled by the thick walls and heavy door of the negotiating chamber, did not quite carry to the journalists sitting outside. But there was no mistaking his tone.

Inside, the men who had inflicted the miseries of Burundi’s civil war were once again at loggerheads. For months, Mr Mandela had been patiently nudging them towards peace. But their renewed obduracy now proved too much, even for the most mild-mannered of men.